Minutes:
The Committee considered the following report:
“1 Relevant Background Information
The purpose of this report is to:
1. Update Members on work to ensure the organisation is fit for purpose for its new roles and responsibilities, in particular, the processes and timeframes for the previously agreed Peer Review and Decision Making and Accountability processes.
2. Agree to delete the Director of Parks and Leisure post from the organisation structure and release the postholder by reason of redundancy.
3. Seek Members’ permission to instigate an expression of interest in VR exercise across the council with the exception of front line staff.
2 Key Issues
2.1 Approach to organisation development and design
Members previously agreed that the Local Government Association (LGA) would help with two key strands of our work to redesign the organisation (the corporate peer challenge process and an analysis of decision making and accountability (DMA).
An update on each of these processes is set out below.
2.2 Corporate Peer Challenge
The LGA corporate peer challenge involves a team of external peers who will draw on their experience of local government to provide observations and feedback on our plans and proposals for the future. The review will consider core components and areas that are fundamental to councils’ future performance and improvement; exploring them will give an indication of the organisation’s ability and capacity to deliver on our plans, proposals and ambitions.
2.3 Peer team make-up and roles
The peer team will comprise two elected members, (still to be confirmed) and the following senior local government officers:
Nicola Yates OBE – City Director, Bristol City Council: Ms Yates was appointed City Director in May 2013 and was previously Chief Executive at Hull City Council between 2009-2012. Prior to that, she held the roles of Deputy Chief Executive (2008-09) at Hull and Chief Executive of North Shropshire Council (2005-08). Ms Yates’ professional background is within the housing sector and she has contributed both operationally and academically to the landscape of social housing today.
Sarah Reed – Assistant Chief Executive, Sunderland City Council: Ms Reed’s background is in organisation development and management services. She has been Assistant Chief Executive since 2010, and prior to that she was Head of Strategy, Policy and Performance Improvement. In these roles Ms Reed has led on developing the new operating model for the council and helped to make this happen by re-designing the focus of the council as a community leadership council.
2.4 Neil Hanratty - Director for Economic Development, City of Cardiff Council:
Mr Hanratty has worked in the regeneration and inward investment fields for over 20 years, mainly in local government and with public private partnerships throughout the UK. He is currently responsible for Economic Development, Regeneration, Major Projects and Property at City of Cardiff. He has a strong interest in sustainable urban development and economic growth, particularly the opportunities to develop smart cities to attract sustainable inward investment.
2.5 Dates of the peer challenge
The peer challenge team will be onsite at Belfast City Council on 27,28,29,30 January 2015.
Members’ briefing
Political and stakeholder buy-in is crucial to a successful peer challenge and appropriate communications with the relevant internal and external stakeholders will take place over the next couple of months.
2.6 As the starting point for this process the LGA will brief elected members at the strategic planning workshop on 26th November 2014.
DMA (Decision Making Accountability)
The DMA process will help to:
o establish the number of layers of management the organisation needs to achieve its purpose effectively
o identify decision rights that managers at different levels require to be empowered
o create an effective organisation and efficient management structure.
2.7 The LGA will review the Chief Executive’s Department and the Finance and Resources Department first and it is hoped to have this completed by the end of December 2014 and the whole organisation completed by April 2015 (with a view to having best practice, evidence-based options for a new structure at the time).
2.8 Other issues/immediate actions relating to organisation development and design
While the organisation wide restructuring programme is progressing, work is continuing on previously agreed organisation development and design priorities including:
2.9 Planning
The executive search exercise for Director of Planning and Place has started and the recruitment advertisement was placed in the Guardian, the Municipal Journal, the Planning Magazine with premium online listings and the local papers on 20 November 2014. Following preliminary interviews and a full-day assessment centre, the final interviews are scheduled for Thursday 19 February 2015.
A far reaching capacity building programme is in place for shadow planning committee members and a programme for non shadow planning committee Members will be delivered from January 2015. Study trips to Bristol and Cardiff are also being planned for Shadow Planning Committee members to take place by February 2015.
Parks and Leisure
2.10 Given the transfer of the Leisure function in January 2015 Members agreed in principle to the deletion of the Director of Parks and Leisure post from the organisation structure.
Should members agree to the deletion of the post of Director of Parks and Leisure and the release of the director by reason of redundancy by 31 March proposals will be brought in relation to the interim management of the remaining Parks function, pending on a more permanent structural solution.
Voluntary Redundancy
Members will be aware that voluntary redundancy exercises have been used in the past to achieve efficiencies and aid organisational restructuring, most recently within Leisure Services to assist with the Leisure transformation programme.
Given the ongoing work over the next few months to develop options for a new organisation model and the longer and more difficult piece of work to agree, plan and implement the new structure, elected members are asked to agree that an ongoing expression of interest (in voluntary redundancy) exercise is now instigated across the organisation, with the exception of front-line staff at this stage. While there is currently no indication whether or not there is a need to reduce or substantially alter posts such an exercise may assist with this should it be necessary.
3 Resource Implications
3.1 Costs for the work outlined are included as part of the funding allocation for capacity building.
The release of the Director of Parks and Leisure will incur one costs of £138,181. This includes the voluntary redundancy statutory and compensation payment to the Director of Parks and Leisure and the actuarial payment to be made to NILGOSC. At this stage, there are no resource requirements for the voluntary redundancy exercise across the Council as this is an expressions of interest exercise.
4 Equality and Good Relations Screening
4.1 All processes outlined will be taken forward within the context of the Council’s equality and good relations frameworks.
5 Recommendations
1. Note the on-going work and in particular the dates for the LGA briefing – 26th November 2014 and the Peer Review Process – 27,28,29,30 January 2015.
2. Agree to delete the Director of Parks and Leisure post from the organisation structure and release the postholder by reason of redundancy by 31 March 2014.
3. Agree to instigate an ongoing expression of interest in VR exercise across the council with the exception of front line staff at this stage.”
The Committee adopted the recommendations.